David W. Johnson is a professor of educational psychology at the University of Minnesota. He is Co-Director of the Cooperative Learning Center. He is the recipient of the 2003 Distinguished Contributions of Applications of Psychology to Education and Training Award from the American Psychologist Association. He held the Emma M. Birkmaier Professorship in Educational Leadership at the University of Minnesota from 1994 to 1997 and the Libra Endowed Chair for Visiting Professor at the University of Maine in 1996-1997. He received his master's and doctoral degrees from Columbia University. He has authored over 400 research articles and book chapters.

He is the author of over 40 books. He is a past editor of the American Educational Research Journal. He is the recipient of numerous awards for outstanding research and teaching from a wide variety of organiza-tions. He is an organizational consultant to schools and businesses and is a psychotherapist.